A mixed bag

Sail Date:
February 2014

Destination:
Panama Canal & Central America

Embarkation:
Los Angeles

Since this was a long cruise, my wife and I decided to book suite. We had plenty of room plus some very nice amenities. We had two TV's, separate shower and Jacuzzi tub, very comfortable balcony furniture, free room service, fee minibar, free canapés nightly, priority for embarkations/disembarkations, reserved breakfast with Mimosas in Sabatini's, priority dining reservations and best of all, free laundry/ dry cleaning service.

Some annoyances were also to be found. The dedicated front desk for suite passengers was only manned a few hours per day. If I wanted a glass of iced tea or orange juice while out of my room, it was $2.35 per glass plus mandatory tip. I started ordering multiple glasses from room service, saving a lot of money, but it just seemed silly. The meals were prepared for folks who do not like any seasoning, i.e. bland.

The cruise stops were hit and miss. Costa Rico was superb, but Cartagena was just another hugh, very crowded city.
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